Fundraising Progress

More than $1,300 was raised and we are currently in Ghana filming the vaccination efforts this donation is going to support!

As you may know, we are attacking from several different angles the problem of raising funds to eradicate measles. As the global mortality of measles has fallen the amount of funding for measles eradication has dried up, threatening to erase nearly a decade of hard work and increase by hundreds of thousands the number of children who die yearly. The hope of our documentary film is that our efforts will inspire others.

THE FOURTH GRADERS — total collected so far: $1,076.01
We’re working with a group of fourth [soon-to-be-fifth] graders from a Seattle bilingual public school. These kids are both inspiring, passionate, and mature … from day one they have completely blown us all away, and we’re amazingly proud of their progress so far. The initial goal set for them by Jay and their teacher was to raise $800 — more than enough money to “vaccinate an entire village.”

In the month of June alone they raised more than $400 by donating their own money, doing presentations for other classes at their schools, and in the case of an industrious few, setting up lemonade stands. The kids are well on track to meeting their goal. Stay tuned for more updates in July!

On June 19, Miranda, Asiyah, Sophia, and Adrian attended Fremont’s Solstice Parade and raised $153.50 for measles eradication while educating the public about the importance of ubiquitous vaccination. Good job!

On June 23 Evelyn, Adrian, Angela, and Britton had a “lemon-aid” stand that raised $77.53 for vaccines. Good job! We were especially impressed with Adrian’s tireless salesmanship.

On July 3, Asiyah and Hannah went door-to-door in their neighborhood and gave away brownies. They told their neighbors about their project, and raised another $43!

Asiyah and Hannah went back to work the next day on the Fourth of July, and with Adrian and Angela’s help, raised another $40.53 at the Gas Works fireworks festival. It was raining the entire time, but they stood outside and lit up everyone’s day with their enthusiasm.

Four friends from class, Hannah, Estrellita, Asiyah, and Marina, went to the Greenwood SeaFair Parade to tell people about the project. They raised $115.50, putting the class over their $800 goal for the summer! Way to go, girls!

Evelyn started an earring business to raise money for vaccines. She’s set up shop at the Fremont Sunday Market, as well as at the Tour de Fat festival, and started an Etsy shop, too. So far she’s donated $189 to the class total, and has also donated some money to the documentary project. Thanks, Ev!

On August 25, Evelyn and Britton set up a table at the Wallingford Center Market, and raised $30 in less than two hours. We got some great footage to add to the film, too!

THE COLLEGE STUDENTS —total collected so far: $313.37
For many of us, what’s so amazing about this project is that people in our everyday lives so willingly offer to jump in head-first to help with measles eradication. We’re happy when our friends offer to get involved, but even more happy when we make new friends because a near-stranger heard about the project and said “how can I help?”

Meghan, Erin, Sarah, Sarah’s mom, and several other SCCC students got together and put on a bake sale in the lobby of the SAM building at SCCC last week. The sale raised almost $320 for vaccines.

INDEPENDENT DONORS
Independent donors help make all of this possible, as well as giving us the warmest of feelings. It may not seem like much, but when a total stranger shoves ten dollars in our hands and tells us to vaccinate some kids with it, that is the essence of the social connection we’re trying to build with our work.

Interested in donating? Check out the donate page for how your dollar (or few) can make a difference against measles.